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Consumer
Report advice: 'Saving money on your energy bill is not the reason to replace your
windows - it could take decades to recoup the thousands of pounds you'll spend
on new windows and installation.'

This
is in startling contrast with insulating a letter plate. Can we ignore 6% savings on the property energy bills by simply fitting IdealGuard™ for insulating the letter plate at low cost ?

A letter plate exposes the premises and its occupants to all four main risks defined by the Insurance industry: fire, water damage, malicious damage and weather-related damage.

The thermal resistance of the flap is nearly nonexistent. Door thermal imaging shows that the house energy is still lost through the closed letter plate. Imagine what happens when the flap is open for hours for whatever reason, like when a newspaper or mail items are rolled up and left inside.

For average weather conditions in the UK nearly 3kW house heat can be lost through the open ordinary letter plate

The letter plate draught proofing only works with the closed flap and only to a certain extent. A brush strip draught excluder fitted over the letter plate makes it almost impossible to push letters, newspapers and magazines fully through creating a worse draught than one would have had before the brush was fitted. With the junk mail this situation is almost the norm.

Millions of UK properties waste money on the energy bills and cause extra CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.

From the web:

'Ha! Just had the classic experience of returning home to find the hallway like a fridge. Culprit? The new telephone directory stuck in the door creating about 16 sq. inches of hole to the outside -1ºC.

Well, look at it this way: The clown who shoved it into the door saved a hell of a lot energy by not exerting him or herself and pushing it all the way through. It needed about a whisper of push to clear the last offending 1/4".'

With
energy bills continuing to rise and new energy-efficiency standards and regulations, there is a need to make
domestic properties more energy efficient and improve their re-sale
value.

Doors U-value

To understand door energy efficiency one needs to look at its U-value. U-value is an essential characteristic in BS EN 14351 Part 1. From 1st July 2013 it is mandatory under the CPR (Construction Products Regulation) that new external pedestrian doorsets are CE marked with their U-values included in the door manufacturer's DoP (Declaration of Performance) and must meet the strict U-values heat loss standards of the Building Regulations 2010 Part L.

Except very limited circumstances it is not possible to comply with the Building Regulations by declaring the centre pane U-value. For the most part, the U-value must relate to the whole doorset and the U-values declared by door manufacturers would be misleading if the effect of the letter plate is not taken into consideration.

For example, with 4 x 12" Victorian type letter plate and only 1/3 of its aperture open for just two hours a week (as it may happen when it has a draught excluder, which is jammed by mail items), the area-weighted U-value for the door would be 2.2W/m2K instead of the manufacturer's declared 1.8W/m2K. So, even in this conservative example the door U-value will be 22.2% higher than declared.

Such doors are not compliant to the Building Regulations 2010 Parts L and this problem must be sorted out by the letter plate insulation not just draught proofing. With insulation provided by fitting IdealGuard™ secure
by design multifunctional eco letter box door U-value will not be affected by the letter plate. Apart from delivering compliance with the mandatory legislation letter plate
insulation would make your home more comfortable in winter when you can
physically feel the draughts in the house with the associated discomfort and getting colds never mind higher bills.

The savings on household energy bills from insulating the letter plate by fitting IdealGuard™ secure by design multifunctional eco letter box can be substantial

For average weather conditions in the UK, the letter plate insulation would allow preventing 2.8kW house heat loss through the fully open 4 x 12" letterplate and 0,55Kg/h CO2 emissions (1.9kW and 0.38Kg/h through 2 x 8" letter plate) (based on SAP-2009_9-90 and The Engineering ToolBox.com). To put it into perspective gas oven energy consumption on average is 1.52 kWh per use, while for electric tumble dryer it is 2.50 kWh per use.

Do not be fooled by the promises of 'energy-efficient' or 'eco' doors

If you are not so keen on paying extra for heating then look for whole-door U-value and fitting IdealGuard™ is the proven integrated solution for letter plate insulation and draught proofing

The
project showed how installing this simple and cost-effective measure made a
huge difference. Despite the soaring energy prices, IdealGuard™ secure by design multifunctional eco letter boxretrofit
delivered average annual savings of 6% on the monitored property energy bills compared to the national price increases and average annual reduction in CO2 emissions around 300Kg.

Energy Performance Certificate

By law all domestic and commercial buildings in the UK available to buy or rent must have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC). EPCs tells how energy efficient a building is and give it a rating from A (very efficient) to G (inefficient).

There are regulations effective from 1st April 2016 under which a tenant can apply for consent to carry out energy efficiency improvements in privately rented properties. From the 1st April 2018 there will be a requirement for any properties rented out in the private rented sector to normally have a minimum energy performance rating of E on the EPC.

Misleading doors U-values would cause inaccuracy in calculating the property EPC and Design Emissions Rate (DER), which are used for identifying the energy efficiency levels of a property. As a result, the property will not be assessed correctly and this can affect the rating of the property and its market value. In the worst case scenario the property seller and the EPC assessor are risking getting sued.

Fitting IdealGuard™ secure by design multifunctional eco letter/mail box allows discarding these problems as it will ensure letterplate full insulation without disruption to mail deliveries.

In fact, by improving energy efficiency of the property, once fitted, IdealGuard™ secure by design multifunctional eco product will add value to the property.

Since insulation works to stop heat loss it is considered one of the most cost-effective ways of saving house energy. It is logical to start energy-efficiency improvements with those products and technologies that are most cost-effective. Using advanced energy-saving technologies to compensate for poor levels of letterplate insulation is an inappropriate trade-offs, which is discouraged by Building Regulations.

Single measure retrofit does not deliver. An integrated approach is necessary. Therefore, it makes sense to insulate the letter box before, or alongside, the installation of other products/technologies.

Fitting IdealGuard™ secure by design eco letter box for draught-proofing and insulating the letter plate will improve fire safety, security and health in the property too